Largest-Ever Marine Reserve Created in Antarctica

The world’s largest marine reserve has just been created in Antarctica. The area, which covers 598,000 square miles in the Ross Sea, is more than twice the size of Texas.

The move was an effort by an international coalition of 24 countries, including the United States and the European Union. The nutrient-rich waters here are the most productive in the Antarctic, with huge plankton and krill populations plus vast numbers of fish, seals, penguins and whales comprising around 16,000 known species. A 2011 study called the area “the least altered marine ecosystem on Earth.”

The remote location of the sea helped it escape fishing and shipping pressures negatively impacting much of the world’s oceans. And now, fishing will be largely prohibited in 432,000 square miles of the reserve (some toothfish fishing will be allowed in a small zone).

The reserve “shows that the world can successfully cooperate on global environmental issues,” says Enric Sala, a marine biologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.

“The Ross Sea is probably the largest ocean wilderness left on our planet,” he said. “It is the Serengeti of Antarctica, a wild place full of wildlife such as emperor penguins, leopard seals, minke whales and killer whales. It’s one of these rare places where humans are only visitors and large animals rule.”